Free bus travel has given women more mobility

Why in the News

In the four States that made buses free for women, women’s travel has gone from growing slower than men’s to growing faster. The National Statistics Office (NSO) Time Use Survey data for 2019 and 2024 show this shift, but women’s paid work in those States did not rise any faster than elsewhere.

What are free bus schemes, and how is their effect measured?

1. What it is: Free bus schemes make travel in ordinary government buses free for women. They work like a permanent free pass, meant to help women reach jobs, colleges and hospitals more easily.
2. Four States: Punjab and Tamil Nadu introduced the scheme in 2021. Karnataka and Telangana followed in June and December 2023.
3. Time Use Survey: The NSO’s two all India Time Use Surveys asked people how they spent every half hour of a day. So the number and purpose of trips can be compared across rounds.
4. Method: The analysis checks whether women’s travel grew faster than men’s within the same State, because travel rose in almost every State after the pandemic years.
5. The takeaway: Comparing women with men in the same State separates the free bus effect from the general post pandemic rebound.

What changed in women’s travel?

1. Free bus States: The share of working age women making at least one trip rose 6.6 percentage points, against 3.7 points for men.
2. Other States: In the 12 other large States studied, the pattern reversed, with men’s travel rising faster than women’s. Bihar was the only clear exception.
3. Gap beyond error: Women’s travel in the four States grew about six points more than in the others, well beyond the survey’s margin of error.
4. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh: These former parts of one State make a natural test. Telangana’s Mahalakshmi scheme began in December 2023, but Andhra Pradesh’s Stree Shakti came only in August 2025, after the survey.
5. Result: Telangana women making a trip rose from 43.7% to 54.6%. Andhra Pradesh stayed almost flat.

Why did travel rise faster than paid work?

1. Work trips: The share of women travelling for paid work rose 2.3 points in free bus States, against 1.2 points elsewhere.
2. Care trips: Trips for care, such as dropping children at school or taking a family member to hospital, nearly tripled in free bus States. Social, religious and leisure trips also rose there.
3. Timing of trips: Women’s travel rose most around 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. It also rose in the late morning and afternoon, hours more likely used for care and household work.
4. Paid work gap: The share of women doing any paid work rose about four points in free bus States, slightly less than the rise in other States.
5. Other barriers: Getting a job also depends on whether there is work nearby, whether childcare is available and whether the journey is safe.

Challenges

1. Distant jobs: Women who can now travel still need jobs within reach of the routes they use.
2. Care burden: The surge in care trips shows that household duties still claim much of the time women gain.
3. Unsafe journeys: Safety concerns can keep women from longer trips or travel outside busy hours.
4. Data gap: Two survey rounds cannot yet show long run job effects, especially for schemes launched later.

Way Forward

1. Link transport to jobs: States should pair free travel with job creation near the routes women use.
2. Childcare provision: States should expand crèches and childcare so time freed by easier travel can go to paid work.
3. Safe transit: Transport departments should invest in safer stops, lighting and on board safety for women.
4. Track outcomes: The NSO’s future survey rounds should be used to measure job outcomes, including in Andhra Pradesh.

Conclusion

Free buses have widened where women can go, but not yet the paid work they can reach. Whether the mobility gain turns into jobs is what the next Time Use Survey round should reveal.

Key numbers

1. Survey size: about 4.5 lakh persons in each round (2019 and 2024).
2. Women making a trip, free bus States: 38.7% (2019) to 45.3% (2024), women aged 15-59.
3. Andhra Pradesh: 40.8% (2019) to 41.6% (2024).
4. Women in paid work: 30.5% to 34.4% in free bus States; 18.4% to 22.9% elsewhere.

Matching Previous Year Question

“[2024, GS1, 10 marks] Distinguish between gender equality, gender equity and women’s empowerment. Why is it important to take gender concerns into account in programme design and implementation?”